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Making Money
Making Money is the 36th Terry Pratchett novel in the Discworld series, published in the UK on 20 September, 2007. It is the second novel featuring Moist von Lipwig, and involves the Ankh-Morpork mint and specifically the introduction of paper money to the city. Ankh-Morpork has hitherto not used banknotes. The continuing work of Adora Belle Dearheart (Lipwig's fiancée by this novel) with the Golem Trust is also a feature of the novel. Plot Moist von Lipwig is bored with his job as the Postmaster General of the Ankh-Morpork Post Office, which is running smoothly without any challenges, so the Patrician tries to convince him to take over the Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork and the Royal Mint. Moist, content with his new lifestyle, refuses. However, when the current chairwoman, Topsy Lavish, dies, she leaves 50% of the shares in the bank to her dog, Mr Fusspot (who already owns 1% of the bank, giving him a majority and making him chairman) - and she leaves the dog to Moist. She also made sure that the Assassins' Guild would fulfill a contract on Moist if anything happens to the dog or if he does not do as her last will commands. Faced with no alternatives, Moist tries to take over the bank and in doing so finds out that people do not trust banks much, that the production of money runs slowly and at a loss, and that people now use stamps as currency rather than coins. His various ambitious changes include making money that is not backed by gold but by the city itself. Unfortunately, neither the chief cashier (Mr. Bent, who is rumored to be a vampire but is actually something much worse) nor the Lavish family are too happy with him and try to dispose of him. Cosmo Lavish tries to go one step further - he is attempting to replace Vetinari by taking on his identity - with little success. However all the while, the reappearance of a character from von Lipwig's past adds more pressure to his unfortunate scenario. Moist's fiancée, Adora Belle Dearheart, is working with the Golem Trust in the meantime to uncover golems from the ancient civilization of Um. She succeeds in bringing them to the city, and to everyone's surprise the "four golden golems" turn out to be "four thousand golems" (due to a translation error) and so the city is at risk of being at war with other cities who might find an army of 4000 golems threatening. Moist discovers the magic words that control the golems, and manages to order them to bury themselves outside the city (except for a few to power clacks towers and golem horses for the mail coaches) and then decides that these extremely valuable golems are a much better foundation for the new currency than gold and thus introduces the golem-based currency. Eventually, an anonymous clacks message goes out to the leaders of other cities that contains the command that the golems respond to, thus making them unsuitable for using in warfare. At the end of the novel, Lord Vetinari considers the advancing age of the current Chief Tax Collector, and suggests that upon his retirement a new name to take on the vacancy might present itself. Ideas and themes According to Pratchett, Making Money is both fantasy and non-fantasy, as money is a fantasy within the "real world", as "we've agreed that these numbers of conceptual things like dollars have a value." At the bank, research is being carried out with an analogue computer strongly remincient of the MONIAC Computer. This machine is strangely entangled with the discworld reality. Continuity In this book the century on the Discworld has changed, and is now the Century of the Anchovy. This had been noted in the epilogue of the previous Moist von Lipwig novel, Going Postal. The Koom Valley Business referred to at the beginning is a reminder of the events of previous novel Thud! '' where war between the Dwarfs and Trolls was prevented by the actions of Sam Vimes. Adora Belle Dearheart and the Golem Trust return. Popular References The name of the protagonist, Moist von Lipwig, is very appropriate for a con man, which Moist was when he was known as Albert Spangler in "a previous life". 'Lip Wig' is slang for a 'moustache' a common addition to a disguise. 'Moist' suggests 'slippery', also a common con man trait. When Moist is climbing up the side of the Post Office he is startled by pigeons flapping; a classic suspense trick used in many movies and in fact a standard in many James Bond movies; ''License to Kill, For Your Eyes Only ''and ''The LIving Daylights to name a few. The line, "Food gets you through times of no gold better than gold gets you through times of no food is a reworking of ''Shelton and Mavrides' hippy maxim, used in their comic books about the alternative lifestyle trio 'The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, which originally states:- "''Dope gets you through times of no money better than money gets you through times of no dope." ''And of course one of the greatest strains of marijuana of all times according to ''HIgh Times ''magazine was Acapulco ''Gold.''' The Lavishes are very reminiscent of the Borgias or the Medicis with the same extended family, devious infighting, desire for political power and political connections everywhere and Pratchett is likely using both families as a model. The most famous Borgia dynasty includes Cesare and Lucrezia "Lucci" Borgia who are mirrored in ''Making Money by Cosmo Lavish and Pucci Lavish. Cosimo de Medici was the first of the Medici to become ruler (Patrician?) of Florence. Both families were well know for using poison for disposing of their enemies, much like Cosmo Lavish plans. In addition, Pucci is the name of another influential family from Florence who were political allies of the Medici family, particularly Cosimo. The Roundworld "Jack Proust" is an aging comic and the central character ''The First 100 Years ''the award winning show written and performed by former clown Geoff Hoyle. "The leopard doesn't change its shorts" is a malapropism play on the old saying "the leopard doesn't change its spots" (people don't reform or change) as well as the idea of 'having to change one's shorts" after having an accident in them from being scared. This line is used throughout Pratchett's novels. The line on Von Lipwig's draft bank note, "Ad Urbem Pertinet" is Latin for "It Belongs to the City". The following line on his bank note says, "promitto fore ut possessori postulanti nummum unum solvem an apte satisfaciam" which refers to the inscription on English banknotes, beneath the words Bank of England, which read "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of" followed by the denomination of the note. Originally this meant the note would be exchanged by the bank for the equivalent value in gold; however since Britain abandoned the gold standard the phrase is entirely decorative. Moist initially makes the same mistake as William de Worde and oithers and assumes that just because Nobby Nobbs requires proof of species, he's the "Watch Werewolf". Moist comments that there is no god of banking. In Roundworld the nearest is the Roman God Saturn who was the god of wealth, among other things. The Patron Saint of Bankers is the Apostle, Saint Matthew. The Goddess Anoia has gone from being a minor goddess in charge of stuck drawers to a major one who might be in line for the position of goddess of lost causes. This is all thanks to Moist in ''Going Postal. ''Her temple with its kitchen implements stuck on the wall is very reminiscent of places like Lourdes and St. Anne de Beaupre in Quebec where those "cured" have left their crutches and other items they "no longer need" behind. At the end of the novel, it is revealed that Mavolio Bent, the head cashier has run away from the circus to join the bank, which is a reversal of the old canard about staid upright figures giving it all up to join the circus. It also resonates with Malvolio in Shakespeare's ''Twelth Night. ''Both names have obvious connections to the the French world for evil or bad - Mal. Bent is a slang term for someone who has been bought and is crooked. The clue to the crossword in the Times is "Shaken players shift the load (nine letters)". The answer is to shake up a nine letter word for players (Orchestra) and make something that shifts a load (Cart horse). External links Promotional Items in the UK Hardcover 1st Edition Some High Street booksellers have additional exclusive promotional material glued under the inside of the dust jacket: *Borders include an Ankh-Morpork cheque book *Waterstone's include a few Ankh-Morpork bank notes References Category:Novels Category:Moist von Lipwig series Category:Books Category:Books (real-world)